Recapping the Lecture Series in Asian Studies on 23 October 2015

Three scholars from Singapore and Macau were invited by the Department to present lectures to faculty members and students.

The first lecture, “Diaspora and Diplomacy: China, Indonesia and the Cold War, 1945–1967”, was conducted by Dr. ZHOU Taomo, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University.

Dr. ZHOU Taomo’s lecture focused on ethnicity as a hotly contested terrain in diplomatic and social relationships within international and transnational contexts. Combining the methods used in the study of transnational Chinese migrant networks and of Cold War international history, she revealed one of the previously overlooked causes of the 1965 tragedy.

The second lecture, “Crafting a Model: Nation-building at County Level in Republican China, 1929–1949”, was delivered by Dr. Venus VIANA, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University.

Dr. Venus VIANA’s presentation discussed nation-building and the closely related issue of state penetration in Zhongshan, the model county proclaimed by the Kuomintang in the 1930s and 1940s. Her talk focused on the police system and public health reform, the two aspects that closely affected the everyday life of the people. She emphasised that Zhongshan’s experience not only reflected the values that the Kuomintang wanted to impose on China but also exposed the gap between what the state desired and what local societies were able to deliver.

The third lecture, “Recent Approaches to Family History in Southeast Asia: A Case Study on Indonesia 1900–1945” was given by Prof. Akiko SUGIYAMA, Department of History, University of Macau.

Prof. Akiko SUGIYAMA delivered her talk with a case study on Indonesia from 1900 to 1945, which demonstrated the usefulness and relevance of the aforementioned methodological and theoretical critiques in family history. She showed how the concept and everyday practice of “modern family” was debated, contested and negotiated amid colonial rule by the Dutch (up to 1942) and the Japanese (1942–45) and the formative years of Indonesian nationalism that led to the declaration of independence on 17 August 1945, thus proving that colonialism, nationalism, state formation, and Western influence were all pertinent vehicles of family change in a non-industrialised society.

Recapping the CUHK Orientation Day for Undergraduate Admissions on 24 October 2015

The exhibition booth of the Department of History was located at the G/F of Esther Lee Building. The Department arranged four academic counselling sessions and two chat room sessions on that day. The occasion offered a great opportunity for secondary students, teachers and parents to understand more about CUHK and the Department of History, as well as obtain the latest information on the Department’s BA programme such as admission criteria, curriculum, learning experience and university life. The whole floor was filled with participants eagerly seeking information.

For more information, please visit https://www.history.cuhk.edu.hk/historyday

Yu Ying-shih Lecture in History 2015

To enhance academic and cultural exchange, Chung Chi College, New Asia College and the Department of History of the University joined hands in 2007 to establish the “Yu Ying-shih Lecture in History”. This year, Professor YEH Wen-hsin, Richard H. and Laurie C. Morrison Chair Professor of History Department, University of California at Berkeley has been invited as the guest speaker of the following two public lectures:

The lectures will be conducted in Putonghua. For enquiries, please call at 3943 7610 or email to wanda@cuhk.edu.hk.

For teachers and students who have information to share with the Department,
please email your articles in both Chinese and English to chanfiona@cuhk.edu.hk by 4:00pm every Tuesday.